


Sword and Shield

by Haywire



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-20
Updated: 2016-06-20
Packaged: 2018-07-16 03:04:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7249525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Haywire/pseuds/Haywire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nat is looking for a new place to stay, and she finds a lot more than she bargained for in her new apartment.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sword and Shield

**Author's Note:**

  * For [flipflop_diva](https://archiveofourown.org/users/flipflop_diva/gifts).



> For flipflop_diva, I hope you enjoy it. It was really fun to write, and I hope to write more about this one day when I get more time. Thanks for the inspiration! :)

The sign hanging above the storefront was weathered and worn, and it was the first thing that caught Natasha’s eye as she stepped out of the cab. There were two blank spaces where objects had clearly been, with a third item still in its place. The outline of the missing objects was paler and less weathered than the rest of the sign, so they stood out, one in the shape of a sword and the other of an ampersand. They stood next to each other, right before the still present third object, which was a faded blue shield.

She eyed the two story building, wondering for a second if she’d arrived at the wrong place, but the number on the sign - still visible, thankfully - matched up with the address she had in her hand.

Natasha got out and took her bags from the cab driver before paying him, including what she’d hoped was an acceptable tip. He grunted what sounded like a ‘thanks’ and left, so she figured it mustn’t have been too bad, then she turned and headed towards the entrance.

There were two signs hanging from the storefront window, one she’d expected and one she hadn’t. The first was what had drawn her there in the first place: apartment for rent. The second read: help wanted.

She craned her neck and peered upwards at the building. The second story was the apartment, it appeared, and the main floor was a store of some kind. There were colourful signs in the windows with wizards and dragons and various fantasy tropes, along with superheroes and other similar things.

Nat entered with her bags, grateful that the entrance was push to open rather than pull, and raised an eyebrow at the old fashioned bell that rang to announce her entrance. She looked around but didn’t see anyone immediately in view.

“Hi there,” sang a voice from the other side of a large bookshelf on the other side of the store. “Can I help you?”

“Hi, I’m Natasha, I was speaking to someone earlier on the phone,” Nat said, before adding, “I’m here about the apartment?”

The source of the voice, a tall brunette, came out from around the corner of the bookcase and headed towards the door. She was wearing a sundress, plain but in a lovely shade of light orange that caught the eye, with her hair up in a pony tail. Natasha blinked at the sight of her, instantly feeling underdressed in her jeans and t-shirt.

“Ah, yes, come in, come in.” The other woman waved her in, holding open the door while Natasha finished bringing her bags inside. “I’m Maria, we did speak earlier, nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too.” Nat extended her hand, shaking Maria’s once it was offered. She took in the store, eyeing all the shelves full of collectibles, comic books, and all kinds of things Nat knew very little about. She also noticed Maria’s perfume, not overwhelming but definitely noticeable and floral in nature. “Nice place you have here as well.”

“Thanks, I should’ve told you about the side entrance directly to the apartment, I’m sorry. I’ll show you on the way out, but this,” Maria waved her arms about, taking in the entire store with a smile. “is my legacy, The Sword and Shield.”

“Your… legacy?” asked Nat, not quite following.

“Yes, my father started this store and he left it to me when…” Maria trailed off, her smile faltering just a little. “I’ve been running in for almost ten years now.”

“I see,” Nat replied, unsure of what else to say. “I wasn’t sure what kind of a store it was from the outside, though I did notice the sign right away.”

“Ah yes, the sign,” Maria said with a chuckle. “It’s been like that for just about as long as I can remember. It’s become somewhat of a running joke, actually. After the first two pieces fell off people just started referring to the store as Shield and it kinda stuck.”

“Shield, huh?” Nat grinned, looking around the store and now noticing several various sized shields hanging here and there throughout the place, embracing the nickname.

“That’s right, so he never bothered to get it fixed, and neither have I.” Maria waved a hand dismissively at the store and shook her head. “You’re not here to hear about the store, though, sorry. Come on upstairs and I’ll show you the apartment. You can leave your bags there for the moment if you’d like, it’s closing time here now anyway.” She flipped over a hanging sign in the window from ‘open’ to ‘closed,’ locked the door, then waved for the redhead to follow her.

They walked to a closed door right next to one end of the store’s front counter, which Maria unlocked and opened. A short series of stairs lead to the upstairs apartment entrance, and Maria opened that for them as well.

“Ta da,” she said, holding open the door for Natasha to enter first. “This is it. Well, not _all_ of it, of course, but this is the common area.” Maria pointed to another entrance across the room and to their right. “That’s the side entrance, there’s a small wooden patio and a stairway that’s accessible from the side of the building, so you don’t always have to enter the shop.”

Nat walked around the room, taking it in. There was a large closet next to the side entrance, along with a small bench and a coat rack. Several paintings and pieces of art, most comic book or fantasy related, adorned the walls. The room was tied together with a large woven rug in its center, which also featured a large, metallic shield in its center.

“I like it, very nice start.” Nat smiled and followed Maria through another doorway that lead into the spacious kitchen. There were two bedrooms in total, one for each of them, a living room that faced looking out over the front of the store, and another smaller common room that Maria was currently using for storage. It was much bigger than it looked from the outside, Nat realized.

The tour stopped at the room that would be hers should she decide to stay. Nat lingered in the doorway, looking inside the room and its furnishings. In one corner a full length mirror rested, and the last of the day’s sunlight was filtering in through a window and bouncing playfully off of its surface. She also caught Maria’s reflection in the mirror, and her eyes rested a beat on the other woman’s outline.

“So, what do you think?” asked Maria, interrupting Nat’s thoughts. “Think you’re interested?”

“Huh? Oh, yes, I am,” Nat replied with a smile and a small, hopefully unnoticeable, blush. “I think I’m really going to like it here, actually. And I’ve been meaning to ask you about the help wanted sign as well, for the shop?”

“You’re interested in that as well, are you?” Maria raised an eyebrow, though she was still smiling.

“I am, I’ll have to pay rent after all, won’t I?” Nat said with a chuckle.

“Yes, there’s that. And you wouldn’t have too much of a commute in the mornings.”

“Or an excuse to be late,” Nat added before quickly clarifying. “Not that I’d be late or anything.”

“Natasha, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”

-

Working in the store was quite the challenge for Natasha initially, as she wasn’t familiar with the vast majority of the items they sold. While she’d played her fair share of board games growing up, she hadn’t ever been exposed to pen and paper roleplaying games, nor any of the mountain of new and different board games. She was vaguely aware of Magic the Gathering but even then it only helped her figure out what packs of cards her customers wanted, not with how to play the game or any of its specific cards.

Still, Maria had been a huge help to her. There was only one other part time worker who stopped in occasionally, Sharon, who only worked a handful of hours each week, so Nat ended up working most of her shifts with Maria nearby.

It was clear that Maria truly loved what she did, not just the selling of the games and peripheral items but playing the games herself. Not once did Nat see the other woman stumped by a customer with what seemed to her to be the most obscure or obtuse questions.

There were several regulars in fact who took it upon themselves as a challenge to try and trip her up, but they never succeeded. During one such attempt, where a frequent customer named Tony was grilling Maria on a D&D first edition rule, Nat discovered that Maria actually ran a weekly D&D game for several of them.

“Oh wow, that sounds like fun,” Natasha said, overhearing Maria and Tony talking about their upcoming session.

“It really is,” Maria said before snapping her fingers. “Hey, you should join us Nat. The party could use another player, right Tony?”

“Well, not _really_ , with me there and all,” he said, smirking as he leaned against a display counter. “But more people to adorn me with praise never hurts, I suppose.”

Maria just rolled her eyes and waved a hand at him. “Don’t mind Tony. We’d love to have you, if you’re interested?”

“I’ve never played before, to be honest,” answered Nat, focusing more on Maria than Tony. “I’d probably only slow you down.”

“Nonsense. Don only joined us a few weeks ago or so and he’d never played either, we just take our time.”

“She’s right,” Tony chimed in. “In fact he incorporated it into his character, playing his warrior like he’s new to the entire world. I wish he’d skip all the ‘nay’ and ‘forsooth’ stuff though,” he griped.

“Plus for joining I gave him this really cool weapon, I could do the same for you,” Maria added with a wink towards Nat.

“O… ok, sure.” Nat grinned. “I’ll give it a shot, why not?”

“Excellent!” Maria clapped her hands, then reached under the counter to pull out a stack of rule books. “Tell you what, you and I will work on your character after supper. I’ve got a fantastic idea for a rogue that I’ve been dying to try.”

“Wish I had a magical hammer,” Tony murmured to himself.

-

After Nat’s first session was over, she helped Maria clean up the area. They played on one of the game tables in the store, locking up the shop and playing after supper on Sunday evenings. There were a bunch of empty chip bags, bottles of soda, and miscellaneous candy wrappers strewn about, so Nat grabbed a garbage bag and started scooping things up.

“Thanks so much for the help again, Nat,” Maria said, putting away various rule books and papers that were left on the table. “This is the least fun part of each week but it’s much better with someone lending a hand.”

She smiled at Nat as she leaned over the table, her hair falling over her shoulders and brushing against the counter top. It was one of those rare occasions Nat didn’t see her hair up in a pony tail. Maria was dressed down, in jeans and a hoodie, the pouch of which held her DM set of polyhedral dice which clicked and clacked together as she moved about the room.

“No worries, it’s the least I can do,” said Nat. She’d actually dressed up more than usual herself, since she was meeting some of the other players for the first time. It wasn’t anything fancy, she’d just picked out her favourite blouse - a deep shade of purple she just adored - and black dress pants, though she’d regretted it once she saw what their guests were wearing. It was all jeans and t-shirts with various slogans and logos, all of which were well worn and featured a number of holes.

The other players took well to her as Maria had said they would, thankfully. There was Tony, who played a wealthy gnome inventor that created elaborate contraptions, including a fancy suit of armour for himself; Don, who played the clueless warrior with a magical hammer; Bruce, whose character was normally a calm, easy going fighter who often lost it and went into a crazy battle frenzy while fighting; Clint, who played a ranger that was extremely skilled with a bow; and Steve, whose paladin was the leader of the party.

Maria helped Nat make a rogue who the party met in a tavern at the beginning of the session. She was a shady sort who they were asked to help, though throughout the mission the party didn’t know whether Nat’s character, who they nicknamed Widow, was actually good or evil.

The players assumed she’d be joining them, since Nat was now part of the group, but they had to separate that knowledge from their own characters’ knowledge, a concept that Nat was still adjusting to and for which Tony especially had no problems calling her out on.

“Ah ah ah, OC knowledge isn’t IC knowledge!” he’d first chastised her with, earning a scolding glare from Maria.

“What?” Nat had asked, unaware of what he’d meant.

“What you know isn’t what your character knows, basically,” Maria explained, kicking at Tony who was sitting on her other side.

“Ow! The hell?!” he’d said, reaching down to rub his shin.

There were a few other examples of things Nat needed to learn but they all helped her through it, even Tony - who often acted like a jerk but she was catching on that he wasn’t _always_ one - and she’d had a blast.

“Thanks for the invite again, Maria, I really appreciate it.” Nat scanned the table and, satisfied she’d gotten all of the garbage inside, tied the bag closed. “It was so much fun, and I’m looking forward to next week.”

“Of course, don’t mention it. Glad to have another woman at the table, to be honest.” Maria smiled, reshelving the last of the books. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, the guys are great and we have a lot of fun, but sometimes there’s a little too much testosterone in the room, you follow?”

“Hah, I bet,” Nat laughed. “Like Bruce and his character just yelling out the words ‘Smash! Smash!’ over and over.”

“Exactly. It’s funny the first time but when all of them start getting into it, yeah,” Maria shook her head, still smiling though. “So you’re liking it here, I take it?” She sat back down at the now clean table, motioning for Nat to join her.

“Oh yes, definitely,” Nat replied, taking a seat next to her. “I have to say I was a little unsure of what I was getting myself into at first, but not any more.” She grinned at the brunette. “Like when I first started here I had no idea what a d20 was, for example, but now, watch this:”

Nat reached into her own dice bag, pulling out a d20 and rolling it on the table. She looked down at the result, which was showing a 1.

“That’s… well damn. A critical miss, apparently.”

“You’re definitely catching on quick,” Maria laughed and reached for the die the same time Nat did, and her hand landed on top of Nat’s.

Nat hesitated for a beat or two before removing her hand, pulling it and the die back to herself. “Sorry about that,” she managed while putting the die back into the bag.

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it,” Maria said. “Hey, now that we’re done gaming, do you have any plans for supper?” Most nights they either cooked for themselves, one eating while the other manned the shop or was elsewhere.

“No, I don’t,” Nat answered. “What’d you have in mind?”

“Well, we could order a pizza and put on a movie, if you’d like?” The living room had a large tv and couch inside, though Nat ceded the area to Maria more often than not, opting to use her own much smaller tv or her laptop in her room. “There’s so many things I want to show you, I don’t even know where to start.”

“Sure,” said Nat, blushing more than a little. She reached for her bottle of water to take a sip, partly to cool off and partly to obscure her face a little. “That sounds like a great idea, totally.”

-

By the next time the gaming group met up, Maria and Nat were an item and it was no secret. She joined them at the gaming table after supper on Sunday evening, and they all broke out their dice and snacks once everyone arrived.

“So you’re back again, huh?” asked Tony. “Will you be using the same character or are you going to be playing something different this time around?”

“Sorry boys,” Nat said with a smirk, looking over at Maria. “Looks like the Widow’s here to stay.”


End file.
